Retailers Plan Industry-Wide Recycling Label

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) have launched a consultation with Government, local authorities, manufacturers and retailers to make sure the scheme has widespread acceptance.

07/12/2007 Retailers are seizing the initiative and working to agree standardised recycling labeling for packaging as a way of encouraging customers to recycle and so help the Government achieve its waste reduction targets.

Retailers believe customers are increasingly frustrated that they do not know which packaging can be recycled. They are looking to replace the current, potentially confusing, range of symbols and messages with a single logo.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) have launched a consultation with Government, local authorities, manufacturers and retailers to make sure the scheme has widespread acceptance.

Previously, differences in local recycling regimes have thwarted efforts to produce universal recyclability labeling. The BRC is proposing packaging will be divided into three categories from ‘widely recycled' to ‘not currently recycled', depending on how likely it is a customer's local authority will accept the material.